How to make a very simple cushion cover – no zip

Sue Paul is a fabulous, talented and experienced home-maker who recently kindly shared her ideas and tips from renovating three gorgeous homes.

She talked a lot about cushions and we discussed how lovely it is to capture the memory of people and places by making cushion fabrics from favourite clothes, and pieces with special associations (school ties, baby clothes, uniform details, bags from places visited, monogrammed posh shoe and handbag covers…) And then of course we got into the making of the cushions themselves.

If you are an excellent seamstress that is fine, but if you aren’t here are some simple instructions that she put together for creating a cushion cover with a flap opening at the back rather than a zip.

To make simple cushion covers with no zip:

1. Measure the cushion pad

2. Cut two pieces of fabric “A” and “B” the size of the pad plus 4cm all round. For example, if the pad measures 31cm x 48cm each piece needs to be 35cm x 52cm

3. Cut a further piece of fabric “C” the width of the pad plus 4cm x half the length. So, using the example above, piece “C” would need to be 35cm x 26cm

4. Lay piece “B” on a flat surface with the wrong side facing up and turn back a hem of 6cm on the width then fold it over again – another 6cms (so 12cms in all)

5. Pin – press – sew

6. Lay piece “C”on a flat surface with the wrong side up and turn back a hem of 2cm on the width, then fold it over again another 2cm (4cm in all)

7. Pin – press – sew

8. Lay piece “A” on a flat surface with the right side up

9. Lay piece “C” with the wrong side up on top of piece “A” and line up the raw edges.

10. Lay piece “B” with the wrong side up on top of pieces “A” and “C” lining up the edge of the hemmed end to overlap the hemmed edge of piece “C” and the raw edge to line up with the raw edge of piece “A”.

11. Pin 2cm from the edges all the way round and sew.

12. Trim the raw edges to 1cm and cut the corners off.

13. Turn the cover out and use a teaspoon to help push out the corners and a needle to tease out the last little bit.

14. Press and insert the cushion pad.

And finally, Sue found a cutting from an article on the history of cushions that made us giggle and so we thought we would share that too “A comfortable cushion which is ugly may be physically acceptable, but it is of no use whatever if it causes you aesthetic discomfort.”